I thought about that after I posted, that you might not be dealing with burial lines w/steam. Haven't dealt with that much, underground mainly, but nothing steam. So they use coupling that welded solid, no release clamp in the center? Is the welder stick welding (most likely) or using a suit case MIG ?

Surprised he has to weld directly on the line in place I guess.

 

Yes- stick weld- we dont MIG weld too much here- our welders TIG, but thats mostly for s.s, alum. and titanium- and they will stick weld s.s. If its non critical or structural-
The welding contractor we use to reclad the inside of our digesters, they have large MIG rigs, them fellers can push some metal!

 

That's cool, never had the chance to do the big stuff, -3/16 1/4" and down,- auto-body metal. Did a black Iron fence a few months back. Fake BI (steel), made the gates, latch/hinge assemblies and end pieces, -side job. Working around heavy equipment most my life I've seen some welding lol. Some of those guys are half artist with the work they can do.

 

I'm not a very good welder, but I can tell you that nothing I've welded has come apart yet, LOL. I welded my swing gate together 5 years ago, and I must say that it has held up very well considering I had one "coaching" session from my Dad. I must say though, his Lincoln is much better than my HF welder.

 

Its all in the practice and use- they trained us for black iron structural welding- no process piping or vessel work- we can fab up stands, bracing, that kind of stuff if a welder isnt available - but if you dont use it, man, it takes a few passes to get back in the swing!
You are right, we have some shop welders here that are artists!

 

Would any of you guys be able to measure the temp of the air coming out of your vents with the heater on full heat? My heater used to be able to melt your hands off, recently it started to suck. I popped a motorcraft thermostat in yesterday and that helped quite a bit but I still feel like it should be hotter. After fully warming the truck and driving I measured 130 degrees out of the vents but I think it should be closer to 150.

 

Ive got a small infrared surface thermometer here at work, i got it at sears for about 40.00- but i dont know how accurate it would be unless you shot inside the vents(?)-

 

Second thought- could use it to get temp. on heater hoses-if they are up to temp, then maybe your blend door isnt working correctly(?)

 

Your right watch this, close, he shows the temp difference -

 

I just used a temp thermometer for cooking lol. Stuck it right in the vent